Friday, 10 March 2017

Lent: Buy no food for home: Progress Report 1: and seven reflections

I waste food.
I succumb "Sell by date food" offers.
I have jars of three year old chutney in the house.

Lent 2017 offers me the chance to "Resolve to buy not food for the house
- - at least not until I have eaten everything."

Aims:
1. To clear out new, and ancient food in my house. And prehistoric.
2. To remove the temptation of buying more food than I need, or indeed, can eat. The superb bargains from the Coop and Booths have thwarted my attempts at Slimming World since January.
3. To see what I learn.

Initial stocks:

My initial stocks of food were "average" - I had had a "No new buy" attempt at the beginning of January that lasted about two weeks (with lapses) - which cleared most of my Christmas stock of extra cheese and mince pies.

After 6 days I posted the adjacent meal in the Slimming World Facebook page. I still had a variety of food, including the week-old lettuce in the fridge.
(The quinoa meal shown is the remaining quarter of what I had already eaten)

After ten days I am still going strong. Today I have a cold so tried to eat healthily: I ate up the very sad celery and very sad green pepper from the fridge, that were" beyond sell by" two weeks ago. And ate quinoa and lentils. And my last tin of curried mackeral; Oats, and my penultimate egg, then a tin of forest fruit with raw oats. So today I manged my five a day veg/fruit...

But stocks are getting low.. Tomorrow I will eat the bag of sprouting potatoes (having eaten all the nice newer non sprouted ones)

Seven things I have noticed:

1. I am producing far less waste for my waste bin - both less packaging and less old food waste.

2. It has encouraged me to appreciate much more the snacks I do eat when I am out:
I enjoyed healthy snack meal at Settle Hub on Tuesday. J.D. noted the way I pounced on the 1/3 hot-cross bun laden with butter at the Churches Together Lent Meeting on Wednesday,

3. Maybe I go out slightly more often. (The time I have saved by not going to the Coop Garage may end up being spent in extra coffee mornings..).

4. I am getting a bit hungry because I am not having big helpings of main course.. and then maybe "snacking" too much. . E.g. at the above mentioned Church Lent meeting on Wed I had three pieces of buttered hot cross bun and a chocolate biscuit...!!

6. Yesterday I attended a meeting at Langcliffe, the local church where there was to be a talk on Refugees.
Maggie Bruno of Bentham told us of efforts in Bentham to help refugees
She also goes to Bradford one day a week to help support refugees who are waiting to have their cases heard.
And says what awful stress they live under whilst waiting.
She says they are given £36.95 a week for everything.
(Cooking facilities and electricity is provided) But that £36.95 has to cover food, mobile phone top-ups, clothes.
People who did not want to become refugees.. but had to travel illegally - to apply to be a refugee you have to be in the country, and usually there is no legal way to enter. Real catch 22

As my stocks get lower I begin to imagine what I will get when I do go to the shops again.
£36.95 won't go far.
But think of people stuck in a poky room/flat with £36.95 to spend on everything.

7. I read that 1/3 of the food harvested in the world goes to waste and that
If it were a country, food waste would be the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. http://bit.ly/2lF3NGV http://bit.ly/2lF3NGV (from A Tesco post)

Subscribe To The Rainforest Fund, Settle

So far we have raised ..

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Jan-March 2018:£30

(Total for 2018: £30.00)

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December: £235 made up of £191 at Coffee morning - £127 for Coffee and cakes, £64 for cards; plus £10.50 from Cards sold at Settle Spinners and £20 from one person buying cards and £23.50 from other cards - Total for 2017: £557:

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Sep-Nov 2017: £32.50 including £19.50 from Green Christian JIE Conference and £13 from Cards at Growing with Grace (Total-£312)

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June - Aug 2017: £72.50 including £68 from the talk on "Wildflower Walks around Settle" (Total for 2017: £279.50)

In Dec 2012 - so far - £137 :£65 from Rainforest Coffee morning at church. The following is all from cards: £25.5 from sale of cards at coffee morning, and £25 from cards near coffee morning; : £8 at Langcliffe Inst, £13 Growing with grace £10-50 Wholesome Bee, (Total for 2012 = £712)

In June 2012: £40 : from sale of cards:£18 from people from Scargill House on my wildflowers walk and £16 from Age UK people at haymeadow talk (Total for 2012 = £370)

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In May 2012: £74 : including from cards (£14 from sale of cards at Taitlands Tea room at Stainforth; £15 from CCG meeting at Lower Winskill; £20 from Flowers course at Malham Tarn Field Centre; £17 (Total for 2012 = £330)

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In April 2012: £26: from cards (£15 from A Rocha group at Scargill House (Total for 2012 = £256)

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In March 2012: £130: from cards including £75 from Christian Ecology Link Conference at Bristol and £35 donation from Settle Spinners and £20 from Cards in the foyer at St John's (Total for 2012 = £230)

In Dec 2011: £240 including £90from cards including £32.50 from Langcliffe Inst Christmas Sale, £11-00 at WI pantomine, £20 from people at Settle Christmas Day Lunch and £150 donation (Total for 2011 = £1,000)

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In Nov 2011: £50: From cards including £19.50 from Scottish Dancing (Total for 2011 = £760)

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In Oct 2011: £110: From cards including £45 from Worsley Church and £50 from Settle Mothers Union (Total for 2011 = £710)

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In Sept 2011: £30: From cards (Total for 2011 = £600)

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In August 2011: £20: From cards (Total for 2011 = £570)_________________________

In July 2011: £50: From £36 donation form Settle Spinners, (£6-00 cards from Settle Spinners and £8.00 cards from others (Total for 2011 = £550)_________________________

In June 2011: £85: From the profit from the Saltaire Ladies group who came for salad tea at the church hall - £29 plus the cards they bought - £16.50; The Flowers course at Malham Tarn bought £26 of cards. (Total for 2011 = £500)_________________________In April- May 2011: £55 - From My saving buying food on "Live for a £1-00 a day week": £10; Rest from cards including 1 person at Scottish dancing £15 and people at Plantlife day: £16.50 (Total for 2011 = £415)_________________________

In March 2011: £145 - Mostly from sale of cards including:- £50 from CEL conference, £25 from Horton History Society, £26 from WYSOCS; Also a £20 donation (Total for 2011 = £360)_________________________

In Feb 2011: £65 - all from sale of cards including:- £26 from Austwick Field Society and £25 from Settle Gardening Club (Total for 2011 = £215)_________________________

Starting again..in 2011: £150 in by 31 January 2011 including £109 from the Barn Dance and £26 from cards_________________________

£2600 (£600 in 2010) by Dec 31 2010 - Mostly from Greeting cards, but also £32.21 from Settle Spinners and some from a donation._________________________

£2420 (£420 in 2010) by Sept 20 2010 - From the St John's Coffee Morning in August (£106) . Also from the sale of Greetings Cards, including £28 worth from people on courses at Malham Tarn Field Centre - Acrylics, Grasses, Settle Carlisle Line and Staff)_________________________

£2250 (£250 in 2010) by June 30 2010 - Mostly from the sale of Greetings Cards, including £20 worth from people at "Folk at the Falcon" and £30 from one lady who came to the NISCU evening, and £20 donation from people who came on the Environment Sunday Walk._________________________

£2125 (£125 in 2010) by March 31 2010 - including £100 from sale of Greetings Cards and Calendars and another £25 from collection by Settle Spinning Club

_________________________Nov - December 31st 2009 - including sale of Christmas Cards and Calendars

(Total for 2009 = £567 )_________________________Sep-October 2009 - £60-00:- £52 donations at Day of Prayer on 4 Oct. £8-00 from energy meter and sale of cards

(Total for 2009 = £450)_________________________May-August 2009: £68 - £40 from cards from Choir from Dewsbury, £8-00 from profit on sale of tweezers and lenses, £10- from part of Burton in Lonsdale Ceilidh money, £8-00 sale of cards

(Total for 2009 = £47) _________________________£1433 by December 29th 2008 - including £70 from Settle WI£14 from selling Speaking Tips Booklets£70 from selling home-made Christmas cards_________________________£1279 by November 29th 2008- including £25 from a Langcliffe Singer Lady who is giving it to World Land Trust to a relation as a Christmas Present; £35 from Langcliffe Singers; and donations from a couple for receiving computing tuition_________________________£1172 by October 29th- 2008 including £50 made up from donations from 6 people who borrowed the Owl monitor, and an individual donation for £50 - Thanks._________________________£1050 by September 29th 2008 includingover £100 from the "Addingham Friendly Hour" minibus trip where we made them tea)_________________________£920 by July 29th -2008- includinga donation of £4 by a person borrowing an OWL meter - (for monitoring electricity usage)_________________________£883 by June 20th 2008- includinga donation of £100 for Cool Earth by Settle Line Dance Class at the Church Hall and £10 as the first donation online for Cool Earth, and two other donations._________________________£752 by May 20th 2008 includinga donation of £100 for World Land Trust by a family who donated half an acre of land (£25) for each of their four nephews and nieces, who received certificates._________________________£652 by April 19th 2008- includinga donation of £65 from the group who came for coffee_________________________£587 by April 14th 2008- including£160 for A Rocha Ghana£312 for World Land Trust (including £25 online donation and £30 from Scottish Country Dancing at the Hall£115 for Cool Earth_________________________£467 by April 5th 2008- including£110 for A Rocha Ghana£292 for World Land Trust (including £25 online donation and £30 from Scottish Country Dancing at the Hall£65 for Cool Earth_________________________

£392 by March 9th 2008- including£90 for A Rocha Ghana£237 for World Land Trust£65 for Cool Earth_________________________

£295 by February 9th 2008£80 for A Rocha Ghana and£215 for World Land Trust (which will buy 4 acres of forest.)